Gators stay stagnant in ESPN’s Week 9 FPI update after defeat to Georgia

Florida stays stagnant in ESPN’s FPI update after Week 9 of the college football season. The Gators are still projected to make a bowl game.

ESPN has released its latest FPI rankings, with the Florida Gators staying stagnant in their overall ranking and maintaining their bowl eligibility projection.

The metric has not been kind to the Orange and Blue this season. They started out hot with an upset win over Utah in [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s first game as Gators’ head coach. Afterward, the team struggled against Kentucky and USF, losing to the Wildcats and barely sneaking past the Bulls with a victory. Statistically, these were not the best performances from the Gators.

They bounced back statistically in their 38-33 loss to Tennessee and their 52-17 win over Eastern Washington. The defensive metrics improved on the back of [autotag]Jayden Hill[/autotag]’s two interceptions (including one pick-6) in the Gators’ 24-17 victory over Missouri last week.

Following the Gators’ disappointing performances in their losses to LSU and Georgia, the metric swung them back to mediocre. Aside from a stretch in the third quarter of the Georgia game that saw Florida record two turnovers and score 17 unanswered points, the Gators did not do much to improve their standing.

ESPN’s FPI rankings were developed in 2013 to measure each team’s overall strength and predict results as the season goes on. As the season progresses, the data used to determine a team’s FPI ranking will come from the games played. FPI also predicts the outcomes for each game played.

The Gators’ next opportunity to improve their metrics is Saturday when they head to College Station to take on Texas A&M. Kickoff is scheduled for noon EDT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Here are the latest game-by-game and season-long FPI updates for the Florida Gators.